Edna Maguire Plan Raises More Questions

Mill Valley community members like the look of the new Edna Maguire Elementary School campus, but aren't too keen on the means to get there or the traffic woes left behind.

That was the gist of the latest public review of still-formative design plans presented to about 70 people Monday night in the school's soon-to-be replaced multipurpose room at 80 Lomita Drive.

"At our last meeting, it was obvious we had some work to do," said Pete Norgaard, of Van Pelt Construction Services, noting the design team took a step back for a few months after previous public input sessions to address comments. "We've tried to address questions raised."

Based on the lengthy question-and-answer session following the presentation, there may be more work to be done before plans on the new $28 million school come before the district board Sept. 14 for a vote.

The project will completely overhaul the 54-year-old campus while helping to address the district's continued growth. Design includes four additional classrooms and a 5,400-square-foot multipurpose room amid a fully revamped campus. Construction, expected to begin next summer, is being scheduled in phases to stretch out three years to work around concurrent use of the school site.

The new campus is expected to handle 600 students, nearly 200 more than the school's student body in 2008. District enrollment has increased by about 500 students since 2004.

Edna Maguire's overhaul will use up approximately half of the $59.8 million Measure C bond approved by voters in November 2009. The bond will also fund upgrades to Old Mill, Tamalpais Valley, Strawberry Point and Park elementary schools through 2013.

Norgaard, whose Fairfield firm is overseeing design and construction of the school, said the latest design updates include a larger multipurpose room, increased number of parking spaces to 124, over and above both city and county requirements for the site, and a scheduled traffic study to be presented next month.

Wally Gordon, of DLM Architects, said state architects allowed buildings to move closer to the west side property line which opened up other elements including a separate exit for cars, expanded turf area and more courtyard space between classrooms.

Gordon described the school's design style as "California craftsman," based on a study of other sites throughout Mill Valley.

The expansion has concerned some neighbors who already feel the encroachment of the new Whole Foods Market on East Blithedale Avenue.  Though issues at three previous public meetings centered around parking, traffic, pedestrian and bicycle safety, multiple questions Monday were focused on the fallout from a three-year construction cycle that includes shifting spaces and creating interim buildings.

"That road (Lomita), this environment and your design - I think you're going to have a lot of negative impact on this community if you do this design," said Tom Meagher, parent to a first- and third-grader at the school. "I think the school is going to be great, but the construction is going to be tough."

Parent Kristine Erving, noting she had attended each public meeting on the school project, said "this is a huge improvement to what I've seen. It's a beautiful design."

But Erving expressed frustration for what her two children, incoming kindergarteners in 2011 and 2012, will face.

"I hate to have my kids go through this construction zone for three years," she said.

Resident Deborah Huber said "as a parent, I'm really, really concerned about the actual construction process. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of concern for that. People should be concerned."

Project designers don't expect to have a working construction document ready to be presented for state approval until sometime in 2011.

Norgaard said Monday's presentation documents will be available through the Mill Valley School District Web site as of Friday.

Additional public input meetings on campus improvement efforts within the district will be held on the $4.6 million renovation project at Old Mill School at 6 p.m. Thursday at 352 Throckmorton Ave. and at 6 p.m. Sept. 7 on the proposed $4.5 million upgrade of Tamalpais Valley School at 350 Bell Lane.